"This has been the single most constructive set of processes I have ever been involved in," said City Commissioner Randy Leonard.

"We need to get this moving because quite frankly my job depends on it," said Mazziotti.

Are these people somehow physically unable to hear themselves speaking? That's the only way to explain either one of these statements.

"So many people have been arguing this issue from the point of view of dollars and cents, and I think that misses the point," said Leonard.

That's been painfully apparent, Randy. I would seriously vote to replace 60% of this council with chimps wearing suits.

You missed this one Blabb

"You can't argue public education, community colleges or universities from the point of view of dollars and cents. Just as with Major League Soccer, it's a quality of life issue."

I laugh Mr. Leonard at your coupling of these "priorities"

As with 90 percent of government attempts to look like they're helping people and doing positive things, I can't WAIT to see soccer's spectacular failure.
Hopefully I will be living far away from here when that happens within 5 years.

Abusive, yep I caught that one. And I can't even begin to tell you how offensive and disgusting it is - Leonard equating education with using public funds for privately owned sports teams. Especially since our City and State are in a major public funding crises and are cutting budgets for schools and higher ed, including many of the living wage jobs these places employ.

And now Leonard wants to use what little resources our city has left for his pet project that is showing some serious hard evidence that it will never recoup the costs. You have to be kidding me. I'm fighting this one with everything I have.

Jeremy Wright is one of the most offensive people I have had the pleasure to meet. He incites the worst in people, and he brings this same callous and toxic style to his leadership of the Timbers Army. The only "good" thing Jeremy Wright has ever done is enlist Timbers Army drones to donate time to Habitat for Humanity which was done for the express purpose of garnering a positive political appearance to counter-balance their otherwise ruffian behavior. This tactic was so transparent it is sickening, and they pull out this card every single time somebody calls them on their negative behavior. "So what if we throw flares onto the PGE Park field? We donated time for Habitat for Humanity!" They do not give one ounce of thought for what is right for the people of Portland. They only care about overcoming their sense of low self-esteem through their chest-beating and derogatory methods, and this attitude comes straight from the top. It is very sad that Jeremy Wright is representing the soccer fans of Portland during these negotiations. It is also sad that millions of city dollars will be spent in order to prop these people up on a pedestal when there are so many Portland families who are in dire need of social services and social justice. He and his mindless followers are but a tiny minority, but they are showing us all to be callous and uncouth.

The real crisis: Portland wouldn't be known as "soccer city." God Bless the Timbers Army. Often delusional and sometimes entertaining. Yes, it's all about you.

Sheesh.....

I love your revisionist history of what the TA represents, and I won't spoil your illusion of what we are attempting to do here. Apparently, you've got the situation all figure out, and why would I want to destroy your house of cards when it comes to the TA and the MLS efforts.

And I hate the adjective 'visibly.'
He was tense, or he was not.

leadership?

throw flares on the PGE Park field?



i will be completely shocked when you type facts "portland lover"...

Portland Lover nailed it. Internet over.

Wow, the loons that respond in the comments here. You have quite a following Mattie!

I just threw a flare at a homeless child who was tripping over a pothole located in a vegan-friendly bike lane. That devil Jeremy Wright made me do it.

Matt- How does including the photo and quote from Jeremy Wright inform your readers? What purpose does it serve?

Me bets your just an angry, petty little person with a personal vendetta.

Or just a piss-poor journalist.

Jeremy Wright is from the east coast and his gap tooth makes me nervous.

I'm trying to decide whether "PortlandLover" is just a really good troll, or actually believes that personal attacks and insulting hundreds of people are the best way to further her cause...

@Portland Lover

You clearly know very little about the Timbers Army. They have been associated with Habitat for Humanity for years. Why don't you go back to our board and troll some more. You'll find plenty of evidence of the TA's charitable efforts there.

Why don't you quit pretending you know anything...

Since I doubt you will bother here are some example's of the TAs charitable efforts in the past. I'm not documenting the thousands of dollars donated to Habitat for Humanity.

Outside In
http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/…
Oregon Public Broadcasting
http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/…
Habitat for Humanity 2007
http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/…
Habitat 2006
http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/…
Habitat 2005
http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/…

You lost. We won. Quit pretending you know anything about the TA, me, Jeremy Wright, soccer, tax increment financing, Merritt Paulson, or anything relating to the city of Portland. You're a total fraud.

I can't decide which troll I love most: Portland Lover, Blabby, or Davis. PL obviously wins this round, but I'm sure Blabby will be back to blow another blood vessel soon. Davis tried, but clearly needs to step up his trolling game.

Love you guys. Keep up the work.

PL- You gotta pay the troll toll if you want to get into that boy's soul

Very sad. How on earth can Portland be called Progressive with negative loons like this.

We need MLS, plain and simple.

MLS 2 PDX

Ice, Ice, Baby:

we don't NEED MLS. we need food, water and shelter. everything else is elective. i'm truly excited about the Timbers playing in the MLS, i think it'll be great for the city, but you need to get some fucking perspective, man.

Personally, bad medicine is what I need.

@eric cantona

I think we all agree that everyone needs food and water.

There is always a different perspective though. Personally...pot holes and homelessness have been a problem since the dawn of time. We could invest billions on those problems and we won't solve them. I don't see anything wrong with investing a little money (literally its a drop in the bucket of the budget) in something a lot of residents in town are going to enjoy for a lot of years. Maybe that makes me a bad person...so be it if it does.

and shelter. that's important 'cause it rains alot, you know.

and i'm not disagreeing with the notion of spending some money on this deal. maybe a little less than you think we should, but i'm not apposed to a little helping hand here and there to increase the City's presence. my point is, that you and your TA storm troopers would do well to turn down the rhetoric. you might find more people sympathetic to your cause if you do.

Did we just witness Godwin's law?

The TimbersArmy does not need food or water. They receive their sustenance from the flesh of the rainbow-colored ponies and the tears of AmandaFritz.

Korean tacos are also good.

did someone deny the holocaust?

If you guys all show up at once to shout down people who disagree with you, isn't that the definition of trolling?

Frankly, I'm starting to think that members of the TA need to get more hobbies.

Is the Timbers Army like an older folks version of the Kiss Army? OMG like are they imbued with supper special powers of Timbers Might and Glory? Did they get those powers instead of understanding the fiscal workings of their pet sport using public funds?

What about the MagicTheGathering Army or the Collective Order of Dungeon Masters United who would like public funding to bring BIG LEAGUE gaming to this fair city? Huh?

Or the Cat Fanciers Airforce who want to bring BIG LEAGUE excitement to our city by using public funds to build the Best of Show Stadium/Worlds Largest Hairball Museum right here ..in Portland Oregon.

Come on folks. City fuding versus pet projects??? Is it even a question.

It's my own sensitivity: but the term 'storm troopers' referrred to Nazi troops before Lucas used it in his films.

Obi: got it, my apologies. how about "screeching parrots"?

BTW - Spain 0-2 USA. truly fucking amazing performance today. we still need to fire Bradley, tho.

go USA.

You got me Matt. What tipped you off? Good reporting. I guess I should be scared now.

If the Timbers Army is so good at raising money for charitable causes, how about they get together and raise their own money for the charitable cause of MLS so that I don't have to pay for it. After all, if it's just as important as education, then it's a worthy cause for their fundraising efforts.

BTW - Portland Lover have we ever met?

We don't "Need" MLS. We need good schools, safe streets and other infrastructure, and a stable political, tax and public financing structure to keep the city functioning. Not soccer. There is a big difference between "want" and "need"

So, ""There are many Fortune 500 companies who want to know what facilities are available for their employees to recreate,"

And when Portland looks at how to better recruit more fortune 500 companies, these companies consistently say the same things over and over again: better schools, better and better funded schools of higher education and skilled MBA, engineering and science programs, better transportation infrastructure for the delivery of goods and services, better tax credits and other incentives like ones available in other cities and states, and better facilities and class A office and industrial areas. And more and better funded think tanks, research institutes and foundations, and better public-private partnerships geared towards tech and business clusters and incubators. Trust me, sports recreation is bottom tier on the list. Leonard is a fool, or a liar. Or both.

Timbers Army. Bah. What a bunch of whiners. Money talks and B.S. walks. I'm not holding my breath on the money part. The City is broke, has few other alternatives, and URA funding isn't going to happen anytime within the MLS time frame. Believe you me.

Nor should it. The City has more pressing problems. They need to be focusing on those.

"You can't argue public education, community colleges or universities from the point of view of dollars and cents. Just as with Major League Soccer, it's a quality of life issue"

Schools = Quality of life for 500K people, TA = Quality of life for 200 lonely boys. THese boys can't even be more original than aping Britsh soccer fans.

"pot holes and homelessness have been a problem since the dawn of time."

Ya know what, so has cancer been a problem, but we don't find every little pet project ot spend money on before we spend it on cancer research. Does the TA realize there are other people besides the TA in this town?

"skilled MBA"

I can't think of a city in America filled with more skilled MBAs working as baristas as in Portland. I moved here 13 years ago and its been like that for at least 10 of them.

"Does the TA realize there are other people besides the TA in this town?"

Yep...we do. You see here is the problem. We like to fund art programs too. The city and state spends lots of money within the city on art programs throughout our city. I'm sure we could save $30-$40 million just by cutting the arts and music programs around town.

See there are lots of ways to fill potholes.

That's the hypocrisy in it all. You can't support one without supporting the other without sounding like a complete douchebag. Either you're a pretention asshole who thinks you're better than everyone else because you're more cultured or you're a drunk jock douchebag who grunts and chest bumps.

I like art. I support the funding of the arts. I also like sports and support the funding of them too. Lots of people around the city enjoy the arts and sports. Neither is better than the other.

So if you want to be fair you have to be supportive of cutting off all arts and music funding at this point as well as not funding the stadium because in all honesty...in this financial crisis we shouldn't be spending our money of frivilous things like the arts that only a small portion of the city enjoys.

See what I did there?

BlackedOut: I never mentioned arts funding. But now that you mention it...Arts funding, including dedicated funding and well thought out funding policies around arts funding for NON PROFIT arts organizations (such as the 2% for art through RAC or whatever it is called based on development charges, writers in schools program, etc) already exists. MLS and other public funding and city funding policies for the benefit of PRIVATELY owned FOR PROFIT sports teams does not. There is a big difference between public funding for non-profits and citizen owned initiatives, and public funding for private for-profit entities. Nice try but you make no sense.

City find funding for much needed pothole repairs? Since you seem adamant on saying there are lots of ways to fill them, please do tell. City of Portland could use that advice.

Also, do you have stats or a credible source on the number of MBA baristas in PDX? Cause otherwise, I'm led to believe you just making stuff up. Which is the polite way of saying you are pulling stuff out of your butt. Again.

"See What I Did There"

Yes, You used illogical reasoning and have a weak argument. Again.

If funding for renovations for PGE Park falls through, the Timbers Army will most likely dissolve (which is a non-profit organization) and the many projects that they participate in for other non-profit groups will cease to exist as well:

Outside In
http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/…
Oregon Public Broadcasting
http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/…
Habitat for Humanity 2007
http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/…
Habitat 2006
http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/…
Habitat 2005
http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/…

Funding for MLS2PDX helps non-profits just as the arts programs do.

@ExCityEmployee

It's not illogical reasoning. Take any story about a job in Portland. People with MBAs, MFAs, etc are competing for retail jobs right now. That's a terrible argument.

You argue that some arts are non-profits. Sure...some are. So...why are we funding them if they can't make enough to survive on their own? Your logic isn't translating. They aren't basic services yet we're still kicking them down money. Methinks if enough people gave a rip about ballet they wouldn't be begging for money...oh did I mention that plenty of the TA spent a night at the ballet to help raise money? Weird huh? Soccer fans watching ballet... Gosh how about those concerts up at Washington Park that the city is kicking money down to. We're in an economic crisis people. We shouldn't be wasting money on concerts in the park. OMG freak out! Wait...Memorial Coliseum is like...the premiere concert destination in Portland...it only loses money to the tune of half a million a year or so and needs $15-$60 million in renovations...god...we totally need a $30 million dollar city funded concert venue. That wonderful remodel of the armory for the theater...gosh how much did that cost? My god...the children could have used that money! What a total waste.

So just admit it...you don't like sports but you like the arts and fail to see the correlation.

Pothole funding. Home Depot sells asphalt for around $5.00 a bag. Do the city a service and fill the one in front of your house like I did...its not rocket science.

You're not going to win on that. Plenty of private arts institutions have been funded with public money. We could totally be spending that money on potholes.

Oh. My. God. Are you seriously answering my question by suggesting we all go to home depot and buy asphalt to fix Portland's underfunded road problems? You sir are a troll. And you never provided any stats regarding the MBA/Barista issue. Imagine that. Because you can't! I dare you. Come on. Prove you can do it.

Also, I love sports. I used to be a season ticket holder for the Timbers (but have been utterly turned off by the whole enterprise since this MLS crap started), and went to a bunch of Blazers games this winter. And my brother played on the Cleveland Force in the 1980s where I went to just about every home game I could. I was on swim team and tennis team in high-school and was a competitive equestrian in high-school and college so don't for one fucking second assume you know anything about me troll man. I think I've been to one arts event in Portland in the past six months.

And I was against Armory funding.

Blackedout, you are a troll. And an ass. Done responding to you because seriously, you are probably the most idiotic pro-MLS person I've ever encountered.

But you know what's great about you? You actually are a detriment to anyone who supports MLS and the Timbers Army in particular, and that makes it so much easier for the rest of us.

It's really the people in power who matter, and the overall vocal court of public opinion made up of many people, not just one or two trolls. And those people who matter happen to be City Council, and other decision makers, active citizens and groups, including arts groups. Those are the ones that really matter. Not you.

We sittin' here, I suppose to be a franchise player, we in here talkin' about practicin'. Not a game, not a game, not a game, we talkin' about practicin'.

"That's the hypocrisy in it all. You can't support one without supporting the other without sounding like a complete douchebag."

What hypocrisy? ALl the taxpayers ever wanted was basic services to be supported. That doesn't mean soccer stadiums for you, Armory Theaters for Sam/Vera's friends when they have a perfectly good theater already.

Where do we draw the line? To be consistent, when CoP can supply water without raising the price 18%, Randy/Dan can do their jobs without a 3% raise when there is 12% unemployment, we don't have to close police precincts, then MAYBE we could look at this.

However, any time Portland tries to make money off something like this (PFE, Armory Theater, SoWa) they get burned and taxpayers get stuck with their idiocy.

When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.

@ExCityEmployee

Nice name calling. That's always fun to read. Blue Gardenia on Mississippi had a MBA and a PhD working there not too long ago. Unemployment is at 12%. I personally know 3 unemployed MBAs in my field who are currently bidding for barista jobs, retail jobs, and anything that will pay them money. What kind of study are you looking for here? We all know the unemployed and we all know people are looking. You can't read a news story or watch the news without hearing about open positions receiving 300-400 applicants. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there are unemployed MBAs looking for work and they'll do anything. It just so happens barista and bartender are two jobs that pay pretty good that people tend to fight over because they don't totally suck. Hell, I have a friend who owns a popular bar that received 175+ resumes for one bartender position. I helped him weed through them and there were plenty of them that had masters degrees and even more with bachelor degrees. Unfortunately there aren't any specific studies to point to...but you'd have to be a rube to think MBAs aren't bidding for any job they can get at this point.

I quit bitching about the pothole and I did something about it. It was pretty easy actually. My neighbors thanked me.

The nicest thing about this stadium deal is that it doesn't touch the general fund...so nothing is going to suffer because we upgrade PGE.

That's nice you were against funding the Armory project as well...Curmudgeon.

"The nicest thing about this stadium deal is that it doesn't touch the general fund...so nothing is going to suffer because we upgrade PGE."

Ahem, they are paying for the shortfall on the original $35M we spent on PGE Park out of the general fund. If Paulson's bags the deal like he is abandoning the Beavers, we're stuck paying for this extra money out of the general fund.

No money has ever been spent out of the general fund for PGE Park.

Is the TIMBERS ARMY the sole source of funding for Outside In, Oregon Public Broadcasting and Habitat for Humanity?

When you say "the Timbers Army will most likely dissolve (which is a non-profit organization) and the many projects that they participate in for other non-profit groups will cease to exist as well" do you really truly in your own head think ofr a moment that if the TIMBERS ARMY goes away that OPB, Outside In and HH will go be hurt by your passing?

You guys are amazing and have proved out a very telling point about your basis in reality. You need to hold more press conferences and make such statements more often, if nothing else then to give the rest of Portland a well deserved chuckle or three. Have you thought about doing a standup act? I am not saying your could be the next Mort Sahl but you might possibly reach a Ruppert Pupkin stature .. with practice.

You do good works, thats a great thing and something you should be proud of. But come on fellas, that gives you the right to shout in a folly like this stadium deal?


The public funding of a private stadium is as much a joke as the Timbers Army's proclamations of importance.

Then again with Randy Leonard as the seeming Cheerleader for this sort of Fan Boy Ego stroke its little wonder the we have had to endure this much of it in the press.

You want a MLS team and stadium, go fund it yourselves. I tell you what, I wont ask you to fund my hobbies and you keep your sports fetish out of my pockets.

Go in peace

I'm quite fond of the guy who rants and raves because he misread an earlier comment. Annie is proud of you.